Swine flu vaccine trial on kids story disappears from SMH website

Posted by bradfieldresident on 11 August 2009

A search with terms “swine flu vaccine trial Sydney” resulted in a hit on an article published Monday 10 August on the Sydney Morning Herald News website, news.smh.com.au, about a Sydney vaccine trial on children:

which is quite obviously a different story? The search facility for “vaccine trial” on smh.com.au webpages does not appear to reveal a new location, so I can only suppose it has been removed. Why has this story been removed? Will the story reappear on the website?

At any rate, since a couple of these existant articles refer to the two men who died with swine flu recently, it appears that the article redirected from the “missing” article’s URL is related to the same story.

Meanwhile, I return to the issue of this “trial” not seeming to include a control group that does not receive the vaccine under trial. To me this seems like bad science, since there will not be strong evidence to indicate whether the vaccines had any effect or not, and what the associated side effects are. I’m not sure if the girl mentioned in these articles (”Ebony”) is the same as the one I heard about on the television last night; I was in the next room, not actually watching the television, when I heard the story, and wasn’t paying close attention to some of the details.

I’m still waiting for the government’s answers to my questions about the contents of the vaccines, and about whether testing protocol and so on are affected by the “pandemic” status of the country (and/or the world).

Other sites carrying the story about the flu vaccine trial on children :-

A world-first trial of a swine flu vaccine on children has begun in Australia, with the results expected to be known within the next few weeks.

About 400 healthy children across the country will take part in the trial, with hopes the vaccine will be ready for distribution by October.

The testing began in Sydney on the same day two men suffering swine flu, both in their mid-50s, died, bringing the NSW toll from the disease to 32.

A trial in adults has already begun, but the trial in children will test the appropriate dosage and safety of the vaccine for those aged between six months and eight years.

Professor Robert Booy, from the National Centre for Immunisation, Research and Surveillance, said the vaccine being trialled was similar to the one used to prevent seasonal flu.

“This is the first time in the world there has been a trial of this particular vaccine,” he told reporters at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

“But I hasten to add it is based on proven technology, we’re just substituting the virus for different ones that we have used before.”

Mother-of-three Natalie Shearer decided to have all her children take part in the trial because her eldest daughter, Ebony, six, was born premature and is prone to illness.

She said Ebony had been off school this term because of concerns that she might contract swine flu.

“My main focus is Ebony getting really sick, we don’t know how she would deal with it,” Mrs Shearer said.

“This alternative is better than the other, her getting sick, so if it works, I’m a happy mum.”

NSW Health said the two men with swine flu, whose deaths were announced on Monday, had underlying medical conditions.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said although the majority of people who have died with the illness have had underlying conditions, everyone should remain vigilant in preventing the further spread of the virus in the community.

A world-first trial of a swine flu vaccine in children has begun in Australia, with the results expected to be known within weeks.

About 400 healthy children across the country will take part in the trial, with hopes the vaccine will be ready for distribution by October.

The testing began in Sydney on the same day two men suffering swine flu, both in their mid-50s, died, bringing the state’s toll from the disease to 32.

A trial in adults has already begun, but the trial in children will test the appropriate dosage and safety of the vaccine for those aged between six months and eight years.

Professor Robert Booy, from the National Centre for Immunisation, Research and Surveillance, said the vaccine being trialled was similar to the one used to prevent seasonal flu.

“This is the first time in the world there has been a trial of this particular vaccine,” he told reporters at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

“But I hasten to add it is based on proven technology, we’re just substituting the virus for different ones that we have used before.”

Mother-of-three Natalie Shearer decided to have all her children take part in the trial because her eldest daughter, Ebony, six, was born premature and is prone to illness.

She said Ebony had been off school this term because of concerns that she might contract swine flu.

“My main focus is Ebony getting really sick, we don’t know how she would deal with it,” Mrs Shearer said.

“This alternative is better than the other, her getting sick, so if it works, I’m a happy mum.”

NSW Health said the two men with swine flu, whose deaths were announced on Monday, had underlying medical conditions.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said although the majority of people who have died with the illness have had underlying conditions, everyone should remain vigilant in preventing the further spread of the virus in the community.